This invention relates generally to a voter interface unit and more particularly to a voter interface unit that permits disabled people to register and vote from a location that is remote from a polling place.
In 1998, Congress amended the Rehabilitation Act to require Federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities. Inaccessible technology interferes with an individual""s ability to obtain and use information quickly and easily. Section 508 of the Act was enacted to eliminate barriers in information technology, to make available new opportunities for people with disabilities, and to encourage development of technologies that will help achieve these goals. Under Section 508, Federal agencies must give disabled employees and members of the public access to information that is comparable to the access available to others.
The above-described law applies to all Federal agencies, including the Federal Elections Committee, when they develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and information technology. Recent events have caused the public and government to more closely analyze how voters are registered, ballots are cast, and votes tabulated. As part of this analysis, some have recognized that the present voting system for the disabled is grossly inadequate.
For example, the current registration process for a disabled person typically requires the person to first determine the closest registration location, determine if the location is physically accessible, schedule a time to register during hours the registration location is open, obtain a ride to the registration location, provide registration information and relinquish anonymity if assistance is needed, and obtain a ride home. The registration information is then authenticated and a registration card is created and sent to the voter.
The current voting process for a disabled person typically requires the person to first determine the closest physically accessible polling place, schedule time to vote during hours the polling location is open, obtain a ride to the polling location, confirm registration status and show identification, queue in line to cast a ballot, cast a ballot and relinquish anonymity if assistance is needed, take the ballot and hand it to a poll worker, and obtain a ride home. Ballots are then tabulated and the tabulated poll figures and sent to the appropriate governmental authority.
Attempts have been made to address some of the inconveniences encountered by disabled people trying to vote. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,821,508 issued to Willard and entitled xe2x80x9cAudio Ballot Systemxe2x80x9d discloses an electronic kiosk-type voting device that supplies candidate or referendum information audibly at a polling place such that the voter can respond to selection options by speech input or actuating a button on a hand-held device. Other electronic voting devices are discussed in an article by P. Gwynne, xe2x80x9cElectronic Voting Systems Make Inroads in U.S. Local Elections,xe2x80x9d IEEE Spectrum, October 2001. However, these devices are discussed more in the context of the general public as opposed to disabled individuals. In addition, according to the article, the experts still believe it is necessary to have individuals, including disabled people, vote at a designated polling place.
Accordingly, a need still exists for an electronic voting system that fully addresses the needs of the disabled and complies with Federal regulations.
The invention provides apparatus and methods for a disabled voter to register and vote by using a system that includes a novel voter interface unit.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the system includes at least one voter interface unit associated with a network, e.g., a multi-media network. The voter interface unit is enabled to identify a voter using a disability related communication device coupled to the network, deliver ballot choices to the voter, accept a ballot choice made by the voter, and deliver the ballot choice to a tabulation system. The voter interface unit can be further enabled to prompt the voter to provide voter registration information, accept voter registration information provided by the voter, and deliver the voter registration information to a voter registration database. In a preferred embodiment, the voter interface unit can connect the disabled voter to a live poll worker at any time during the voting or registration process at the request of the voter, preferably without any additional peripheral equipment or software.
The system has numerous advantages over those known in the art. First, the voter can use the communication device that he/she feels comfortable with and need not travel to a polling place to register or vote. The system also prevents duplicate ballots from being cast. As compared to overlay or kiosk-type solutions, there is no coordination, shipping, storage or maintenance of polling place equipment, no training of poll workers, no training for users, no ballot printing, and no voter intent confusion. Furthermore, the electronic voting system of the invention is fully compliant with Section 508 of the 1998 Rehabilitation Act.